


FMA SECRET SANTA 2019 - Fishy love

by eonator



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, FMA Secret Santa 2019, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mermaid Edward Elric, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:39:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21939829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eonator/pseuds/eonator
Summary: My submission for the 2019 FMA secret santa!Winry never thought she'd fall for the merman she found hurt on the beach weeks ago. He had never said anything about his past, his family. Maybe now, he'd open up to her.
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Kudos: 26





	FMA SECRET SANTA 2019 - Fishy love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [edxwin_elric](https://archiveofourown.org/users/edxwin_elric/gifts).



“Oh my god,  _ Ed.  _ What the hell are you trying to do?!” Winry couldn’t help but hiss as she walked into her small bedroom, where she had previously placed her strange guest only a few minutes ago. Going back to her workshop to get some tools, she didn’t expect anything to have changed during her small absence. Honestly, what could possibly go wrong? Well, if this was a normal guest she wouldn’t have worried- but this was far from ordinary. 

Sheepishly, the boy with the matted golden hair blinked and turned to avoid the glare of the girl standing in the doorway. “I was getting too dry- my skin was getting sore!” He argued, his voice rising up in a poor attempt to hide his embarrassment. He had just been caught pouring the dirty water from the nearby vase full of flowers over his arms and chest. It was pretty grim, having held flowers for a few too many days but the merman felt like he didn’t have any choice. “My skin gets itchy if not moisturised for too long.” He added on quietly. 

Shaking her head, Winry walked over to the small sofa at the side of the room which the merman was laid on. Before she had left to get her tools, she made sure to drape a blanket over his waist and tail - for modesty. But now, that once plush and warm blanket was now covered in dirty water. Honestly, she wanted to bite his head off for ruining the blanket that her grandmother had made, but she bit her tongue before talking. 

Maybe she needed to give the strange boy some slack. Not long ago, only a few weeks ago she had found the merman hurt and washed up on the shore near her house. One of his golden fins on his tail were shredded and ripped away whilst his arm was little more than a bloody wound. So, she decided to help this boy, despite the large differences between them physically and in behaviour. 

Such as his constant need to keep moisturised. 

As she started to help the boy recover, she eventually found out his name. Using a tongue not used to human speech, he revealed his name as  _ Edward Elric.  _ Winry soon decided to just call him Ed. But apart from that, she really didn’t know much about him. Did he have a family? What was life like for a creature like him? 

“Alright. So you can’t dry out then?” Winry sighed, rolling up the sleeves of her puffy shirt. “That blanket can be washed, but I don’t want you to dry up to a crisp - not after all the work I’ve done to keep you alive.” She flashed a smile over to Ed. 

Walking over to the boy, Winry ignored the confused gasp and yelp as she leant down and brought one hand under his tail and the other behind his back and remaining arm. “Jeez, what are you doing!?” He asked, clearly confused. Squirming as he was lifted from the sofa, the merman was soon carefully in the girls grasp. “Don’t drop me!” He yelped, waving his stump and remaining arm up in the air. 

Rolling her eyes, Winry held the boy up in his hands. Surprisingly, Ed wasn’t as heavy as she had originally expected. She really expected the tail to be more of an issue, but for now it just lazily drooped to the floor. “I’m going to run you a bath- duh.” She groaned, but the smile on her face clearly contrasted the tone of her voice. “And please stop wriggling around or I’ll drop you.” She joked, making her way out of the bedroom with Edward in tow. 

“A bath?” He wondered, scrunching his brow up in thought. “A bath, huh…” He wondered to himself. 

Winry couldn’t help but giggle to herself as the boy of similar age pondered over the concept of a bath. “You don’t know what that is?” She couldn’t help but laugh as he quickly grew red in the face. Turning away, Ed tried to hide his embarrassment.

“Why would I? It’s not like I had one back at sea.” He grumbled. “I guess you could explain it to me if you want…” 

Shaking her head, Winry made her way to another door before kicking it open with her foot. “I won’t need to since we’re already here.” She grinned. Walking over to the large brass basin in the middle of the room, she carefully placed Ed into it. The blond-haired boy looked around, before furrowing his brow in confusion.

“I don’t see how this will help me.” He huffed to himself. But as if on cue, Winry bent over and picked up a smaller bucket of similar colour. 

“Patience, Ed.” She groaned, filling up the bucket with water from a nearby tap. “I hope you don’t mind cold water, I didn’t have time to heat any up.” Muttering to herself, Winry couldn’t help but start to overthink the whole process of filling a tub full of water. “Wait, let me see what I can do.” She looked over to a few clay pots stacked up next to the faucet. “Maybe some salts could help…” Winry quickly turned to look back at Ed. “Hey, how is your stump doing today? Is it as sore as it was yesterday?” 

Looking down at the bandages wrapping his missing arm, Ed gave the stump a little wiggle. “It’s not too bad, nothing I can’t handle.” He replied, choosing his words carefully. 

Nodding, Winry decided to grab a handful of the bath salts as she walked back over with the bucket of water. “These salts should help blood circulation and ease any pain you have.” 

“But I said it was fine-” 

Shaking her head, Winry couldn’t help but grin at the merman. “Honestly, Ed. I might’ve only known you for a few weeks but I can tell when you’re lying.” Watching as he started to glow red with embarrassment, Winry poured in the water and the salts. “I’m just going to continue getting more water.” She said, turning back to the water faucet. “Don’t eat the salts, Ed. They taste nasty.” 

\----

After a few more buckets of water, the bathtub was nicely filled up to the merman’s waist. After pouring in the last bucket, Winry couldn’t help but sigh in satisfaction as she looked at her handiwork. Pulling over a small stool from the side of the room, she sat down next to the tub. “How’s that?” She wondered, watching as Ed started to pour water over his body with his remaining hand. 

“Not bad, gearhead.” He smirked to himself, his voice softer than his words. “But honestly, thank you Winry.” He sighed, looking over to the girl with his large golden eyes. “You’ve saved me.” 

Locking eyes with the boy, Winry could feel her heart growing faster and the hair on the back of her neck rising up. Blinking a few times, she finally had to pull away from the intense gaze of the merman. “What’s up with you? This is the first time you’ve said something like this.” She muttered to herself. 

Shrugging, Ed looked over to his tail. “I would be dead without you.” He bluntly stated. “But… But you  _ found  _ me. You gave me a new chance at life.” He explained. “..Thank you.” He sighed. 

Winry was shocked silent for a moment, she had never seen Ed like this before. Even at the start, where he was in far worse health - he never opened up like this. Honestly, Winry wasn’t sure how to react. She didn’t want to admit it, but somewhere deep inside her, she had to admit it. She was falling in love with him. 

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Winry leaned over and looked at the bandages covering his missing arm. “C-come on Ed. Don’t get your bandages wet now, I need to keep the area dry.” She explained. “I’ll remove the bandages to take a look.” 

As she unwrapped the bandages and examined the sticking and the condition of his missing limb, Ed continued looking forwards with glossy eyes. If felt like he was stuck in his own thoughts, trying to navigate the labyrinth of his jumbled emotions and feelings. Sighing, he suddenly spoke. “I have a brother.” He admitted. 

Holding the used bandages in her hands, Winry froze. Edward had never disclosed anything about his past or his family. But now he was admitting to having a sibling. Trying to ignore the surprise in her voice, she tried to get him to continue. “Really? What’s he like?”

Smiling to himself, Ed couldn’t help but indulge in his memories. “He’s only a year younger than me.” He started to explain. “Same eyes and hair, only shorter.”

“I see.” 

“I really miss him,” Ed admitted. “But I’m too weak to look for him and I’m not even sure if he is still  _ alive.”  _ He gritted his teeth in self-loathing anger. 

“What do you mean by that?” Winry wondered. Honestly, she had no idea how Ed was even hurt. He had never explained how he ended up on the beachline in his condition. Winry couldn’t even start to imagine what he had gone through, but now? He must’ve felt so guilty because of his brother. “What happened Ed?” 

Taking in a deep breath, Ed lowered his head. “We were attacked, by humans.” He forced himself to explain. “They tried to hunt us, with large sharp objects.” He tried to explain, not knowing how to explain the weapons used by humans. Winry couldn’t help but know what he was talking about. He was attacked by a harpoon, a weapon normally used to slay whales. But in this case, they were directed at him and his brother. 

“Oh Ed…” Winry sighed, placing her free hand on his shoulder. “What… What is his name?” She wondered. 

“Al. His name is Alphonse.” He muttered, the name of his brother bitter on his tongue. “But why does it even matter? He’s probably dead.” He hissed to himself. “I wasn’t strong enough to protect my little brother.” 

Shaking her head, Winry took in a deep breath. “No. You’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.” She started. “I’ve seen and dealt with multitudes of injured sailors in my life, and none have shown a  _ fraction  _ of the strength you have.” Blinking, she tightened her grasp on his shoulder. As her fingers traced over his skin, she noticed how  _ rough  _ it was with small glimmering scales peppered over him. Tracing her fingers over them, she looked into his golden eyes. “I  _ will  _ help you find your brother. Trust me, he’s still alive. I just  _ know  _ it.” 

Edward looked up to Winry, his eyes widening slightly. He had no idea what to say, what  _ could  _ he say? Nothing he could say would truly show how much she meant to him at this moment. For as long as he could remember it was only him and his brother. His mother had died when they were young, killed by the men in their large boats. And his father? He had returned back to the land. He had been so lonely, his brother - his  _ amazing  _ brother was the only light in his life. But he had failed, he had lost him. But now? This clever, funny and  _ beautiful  _ girl had saved him. Not just physically, she had saved his  _ soul.  _ He had no idea what to say, what he could possibly say to replay this. But, maybe words wouldn’t be enough. 

Raising up his remaining hand, Ed lifted his arm and placed his hand at the back of Winry’s head. With gentle care, he pulled her head down to the same level as his own. And without thinking, he leant forward and carefully kissed the blonde girl. 

There was nothing he could say to make up for this, but maybe-  _ this  _ would show her how much he appreciated all of this. Finding him, caring for him and  _ reigniting  _ hope in finding his brother. Maybe there was still hope for him, a hurt monster from the sea. 

At first, Winry was surprised as her lips met the mermen. But as everything fell into place, Winry lifted both arms and cradled his head in her hands. Intertwining her fingers with his dry hair, she pushed forward into the kiss. Closing her eyes, she hoped and  _ begged  _ for this moment to never end. 

But all good things must come to an end. Slowly and tentatively, Ed pulled back with a face as bright red as a fruit. For a moment, he had no idea what to do. What did he do? He had just  _ kissed  _ her. “I- ah- oh god-” He started to stutter, bringing his remaining hand up to hide his blush. “Oh- I shouldn’t have done that-” He spluttered. 

Watching the merman squirm and blush like crazy, Winry couldn’t help but laugh. She was nearly as red as he was. “Come on, you idiot” She sighed. “You really are full of surprises.” Standing up, she placed a light kiss on his cheek. “Let’s get you out of here, I think we need to start looking for this brother of yours.” 

“Sure, Win."


End file.
